Shiloh as a city

Shiloh is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as an assembly place for the people of Israel where there was a sanctuary containing the Ark of the Covenant until it was taken by the Philistines. According to the Book of Joshua 18:1, it was at Shiloh that the "whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled...and set up the tabernacle of the congregation...", being the tent which housed the ark. Later on, the portable tent seems to have been enclosed within a compound or replaced with a standing structure with "doors" (1 Samuel 3:15) a precursor to the Temple, that survived until the time of Samuel.

At Shiloh Samuel was raised by the priest Eli and later himself served as priest there. When the Israelites were defeated at the battle of Aphek, their Philistine foes (who had already captured the Ark of the Covenant) apparently destroyed the shrine (1 Samuel 4).

Despite the shameful defeat, Shiloh was revived, and an important prophet lived there - Ahijah HaShiloni.

The site of Shiloh is usually identified as modern Seilun, about eight miles north of Bethel. There is a tel and many impressive remains from the Caananite and Israelite eras, and till as late as the 8th century. During the following 12 centuries Shiloh is only noted as a station on sojourners' routes, usually having only its religious-historical significance to offer. Only in 1978 did it become residential again, as an eclectic group of Jews accompanying an archeological expedition at the ancient site rendered their tent-camp into the seed of a village.

In 1979 Israel claimed the village as an Israeli settlement, and named it "Shilo".

In Aug. - Sept. 2006 archeological excavations were carried out adjacent to Shiloh’s tel. Findings of great significance were found: elaborate mosaics, testimony of settlement in the Mamluk era and an unprecedented mosaic inscription in Greek referring to the site as the ”village of Shiloh” – a rare occurrence of an archeological site identifying itself.

• More Archeology at Tel Shiloh